Sanguinary
by scary inu
Summary: In a nutshell, Akabane is having issues of morality. This is your cue to say 'Yeah, riiight...' Mild shounenai. Some blood and killings involved, but bet you were already expecting that.
1. Chapter One

**Sanguinary**

Disclaimer: I could dream, I suppose. But, no, I don't own GetBackers.

A/N: I actually deleted the story instead of updating it before I knew what I was doing! I can't believe I was that dense... T.T So here, I reposted it.

About the questionable timeline... Just chuck this in before the Bombay Blood incident. There is some inconsistency, but I hope you'll be lenient.

Support Akagami. Pretty please?

**Chapter One:**

That night it was raining hard. He could feel the cold, wet sting of the rain penetrating the dark clothes he wore and the almost solid slap of it across his face, plastering his hair against pale features hidden under the wide-brimmed hat. His recent object of interest was standing about three feet away, looking at him with bright brown eyes that were stupidly defiant. Something he found intriguing, to say in the least.

"You amuse me, dear Ginji-kun," he said softly, voice lost in the night and the rain. "I find you interesting, but not too interesting that I would hesitate to slice open your back and throw your body at my feet should you cross me again."

The blonde boy felt a shiver run down his spine, but smothered his fear enough to issue a rejoinder, something he got, perhaps, from his partner, the odious Midou Ban.

"P-People aren't your playthings, Akabane-san! And you're wrong to treat everybody else like they are."

Akabane raised a single eyebrow. Ginji did not see the gesture, though he felt incredibly frightened just the same. "You think so?"

"I…I know it's not supposed to be that way! Everybody's working hard for their lives and…and…you kill…"

"I am not the only killer in this world."

"No." Ginji deflated. A shadow seemed to pass over his usually cheerful eyes. Akabane's eye twitched involuntarily at the sincerity written on his face.

"No, you're right. You're not the only killer. But why do you have to be…?"

Akabane was not a liar that he denied he was a cold bastard who loved his work. He was good at what he did; he killed efficiently and at times, unnecessarily, to finish a job. He took pleasure in feeling the life draining from his enemies and people habitually died to keep him from getting bored.

But it could not be helped. The only place familiar to Akabane was the cold, unfeeling world of corpses lying gracefully at his feet. It was what he wanted, what _they_ would have wanted. Humans always seem to be lonely, as corpses never appear to be.

Akabane considered telling Amano Ginji that. Instead he merely pulled his hat down and smiling darkly, turned on his heels and vanished into the waiting night like a wraith. But a part of him, a very distant part of Akabane, wanted to scream in the darkness.

-

_I have accepted my darkness long ago._

_I was promised to that same darkness._

_Demons have no need to brood over sorrow, or loneliness, or pain. _

_So perhaps…_

…_that is reason enough to live._

-

"So, what have I done to deserve this…trial of strength?" Kagami Kyouji smirked. He dodged three of Akabane's scalpels with an almost lazy fluid movement, like a step in a dance, and followed this up with one of his own attacks, which Akabane narrowly avoided.

Kagami detected a tiny tear on the fabric of his white suit pants, just above his left knee. On the other hand he had managed to scratch Jackal. He noticed the blood trickling slowly down Akabane's cheek and made a 'tsk' sound in his throat.

"I would have expected better than that from the infamous Dr. Jackal," he said softly, his cold, tight-lipped smile mirroring Akabane's own. "What could have distracted you then? I thought for sure you could have completely avoided that…"

"Kagami Kyouji-kun, you talk too much for a person who is just about to die," Akabane answered, his purple-gray eyes widening to manic proportions as he let loose several more scalpels at Kagami, who blocked the first three and leaped away from the ones that followed after.

"Too slow," Kagami said.

"Shut up." A moment later scalpels were sticking out of the spot on the wall where Kagami's head had been. If Kagami had not been as fast as he was, then the fight would have been over. But as it was…

"This is getting us nowhere," Kagami observed, watching Akabane with half-shut eyes as he cut through several mirror pieces with glowing-blue knives he had between his fingers. "What are you doing in Mugenjou?"

"I hunted you down, obviously." Akabane jumped backwards in time to save himself from getting decapitated by a sharp-edged glass shard which sailed through the air with dangerous precision. He landed on both feet, one gloved hand holding his hat in place. His eyes were wide with that crazed look only very few people actually lived to describe.

Kagami smirked again. "I suppose I should feel privileged…" He calculated, as always, before he decided on his next move. Casting a quick glance at the possible exits leading out of the decrepit building, he wondered whether he would see the need to use one of them. Jackal, for his part, noticed the look and smiled wider.

"Never dream of escaping me again."

Kagami frowned; he did not like being dissed.

"As you wish, Doctor Jackal," he said quietly, opening one hand palm upward and letting fragments of glass scatter like shining petals in the air.

Akabane jumped away and landed on a ledge, his trench coat a piece of night flapping behind him. "This may actually turn out to be interesting. Perhaps even slightly better than a fight with the Raitei," Akabane said with his customary smile.

"Oh my, does this have anything to do with the Thunder Emperor?" the illusionist asked, sounding amused.

"No," Akabane answered after a pause. "This is about a wager I had. Do you know how I have survived this far?" He gripped his blades tighter; the weapons glinted as if in anticipation of the taste of blood. Kagami's blood.

"It is because every time I encounter a near-equal I generally do not allow them to live. This is my covenant with this world, that no other monster as strong as I am will walk in this earth. So in dealing death, I will continue to live. Someone like you would understand."

"You have strange motivations, Akabane-san."

"Stranger than you would care to imagine. I see that you already get my point."

"So… I have to die?"

Akabane shrugged. "One of us has to, at any rate. To be fair I am not completely assured of winning. But I will attempt to kill you."

Kagami was oddly calm for someone who had just been threatened by a cold-blooded killer in the same deserted vicinity he was in. But then Kagami was only being Kagami. He knew how the game was played and he knew the territory to boot. The harsh kill-or-be-killed reality in Infinite Castle did not exactly encourage people to have issues of morality. And Babylon City had taught him more than a few tricks as well.

Kagami smiled that cold smile of his. "We'll see, now, won't we?"

And that was the exact moment he introduced Jackal to another avenue of attack.

Akabane moved so quickly that he seemed to vanish into thin air, completely avoiding the incoming rush of death. In a flurry of black fabric he appeared again…directly behind Kagami's vulnerable form. Kagami did not have time to react to what had taken place, only to look down at the red sword that went clean through his chest…and then shatter into so many tiny pieces of broken glass.

So it was not Kyouji-kun, Akabane realized a split-second before he felt several lethal shards embed themselves on his back and arm. He gasped and fell forward, the unexpected burst of pain feeling almost like a new sun burning in his body, and his vision dimmed around the edges. It was not a good feeling at all. He tried to push himself up, but his arm collapsed beneath his weight. A thin trail of blood poured from a corner of his mouth.

Kagami was approaching him leisurely.

This was death then. So this was how Dr. Jackal, Akabane Kuroudo, would end. Akabane almost smiled at the irony of it. The death dealer, about to die himself.

"Ginji-kun…" he whispered, not entirely sure why he did so. Then the earth spun underneath him and everything was lost in darkness.

-

_Dreaming again. Let me sleep_….

_What…_

…

_Is this…?_

_Water. Blood, perhaps. Or…_

…

_But I am not crying, am I?_

-

Akabane felt an unexpected sensation of something cool pressing against his eyelids. Slowly he opened his eyes. It was raining again, and he was getting wet.

Kagami was kneeling beside him, a cold hand draped lightly around his shoulder. Raindrops hung on his hair like delicate pearls, framing his desolate face that for once was not a sneering mask of confusion or rage. There was almost something gentle in his eyes; a ghost, perhaps, of the young man he possibly would have been, if things had been different. Kagami lifted him up slowly.

"You called for the Raitei. But he is not for you. If you want, though, I'll tell you what is," Kagami murmured, eagerly leaning forward. Thankfully for Akabane, he fell unconscious again before his mind could deal with the fact that he had been kissed.

Outside, the sky had already begun to heighten. A stray dog howled to the still-present moon.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two:**

Tpptiptiptiptip…

Gods, what was that sound?

There was a faint humming noise, strangely suggestive of the sound made by old model computers. Akabane wondered what hell he was headed to that could possibly have a computer in it. Probably it would turn out to have a reception desk of some sort, too, complete with sword-winged demons grinning with weathered-tombstone teeth.

Akabane's fuzzy mind tried to work out the details of this grotesquely fanciful image, but after a while it got funny, and so naturally he decided to find out for himself what it was, exactly, that was waiting for him on the other side. Not a cadre of angels, to be sure.

Akabane opened his eyes wide.

Shadows. Blurs. He blinked, narrowed his eyes and waited for them to adjust. Finally the shapes settled to recognizable patterns, and he sat up. He was in a spotless white bed that reminded him of hospitals, covered with equally white sheets smelling of soap detergent. The curtains were drawn back and sunlight was streaming through the window, looking solid enough to touch. Akabane sighed.

He was alive then. That was it.

"Oh, you're awake, aren't you!" a genki voice chirped in unexpectedly, causing Akabane to start and to shift slightly beneath the covers. He looked up and met the eyes of a girl with too many freckles and a boyish face, who in turn blinked at him, as if she were a little taken aback.

"Y-You…you're a…" the girl began, growing slightly red.

"Yes, Ren," another voice, which sounded old, said. Akabane twisted his head to one side to see a man, whom he hadn't noticed earlier, sitting in front of a laptop. The man stopped typing and turned in his seat a little, enough so he could peer over at Akabane with kind, twinkling eyes. The look he gave him was almost paternal.

"I believe our patient is not strong enough for any more of your theatrics, Ren." The girl nodded mutely. She turned to go out of the room, giving Akabane a clear view of the back of her jacket with its printed Volts insignia. He realized what this meant, but he felt he had to ask anyway.

He faced the old man. "Where am I?"

The man licked his lips. "Infinite Castle. If you want to know, this is my house. My name is Gen."

Akabane realized that he was expected to give his name in return, but avoided having to go there. "How long?"

"How long have you been here?" Gen asked gently. Akabane had of course noticed that the weather had considerably changed. It was all sun out there, not even a single storm cloud that might threaten rain in sight. But there was a dusty, artificial quality to it, which more than anything made him think that he was still in Mugenjou.

Akabane nodded, and the old man spoke. "Five days. You were asleep the rest of the time. My granddaughter stumbled across you, apparently unconscious, in one of the abandoned buildings. She seems to have the habit of finding wounded people she claims are women who turn out to be otherwise." And Gen actually smiled.

However, Akabane found nothing amusing in that at all, and had stopped listening to finger the cuts and bruises that were all over him. His upper arm was swathed in bandages, as was the case with several other parts of his body. Akabane maintained an almost clinical detachment to his situation despite being in an awkward spot. He actually resembled a stiff, half-formed mummy, though no mummy would have looked quite as good.

There was a deep wound mere centimeters from his heart which would likely leave a scar for him to remember his Kyouji-kun by. He sighed, irritated that he was very weak by any standards at the moment. The old man actually did a good job of patching him up. As good as he was ever likely to get in all his strange years of meaningless existence. But that did not make it any better. In fact, it made it worse.

Would he still have done that for him if he knew who Akabane really was?

Akabane lay back on the bed. He felt the hurt of something he could not comprehend from the very start, and the pain of introspection cut a wound much terrible than those he suffered from now.

"Do you want me to leave?" Gen asked, and Akabane closed his violet eyes, not wanting to meet those of his savior.

"Yes," he whispered. His head whirled with visions of night and blood. Kagami was there, a sanguinary image of an angel in a mirror of illusion, hatred and love.

-

Kagami twisted his dangling earring between his slim fingers, looking out at the poisoned city. He watched dispassionately as several thugs knifed a respectable-looking man who made the stupid mistake of wandering through the streets of Mugenjou. They hacked at him, took the bills from his wallet and then scampered away. It was broad daylight.

The murder and theft did not affect Kagami as it would have another person. He didn't throw up or anything, just took in the bloody spectacle with his usual glare, death having become so familiar for him to retain a feeling of dread at the sight of it. In a way it even reassured him.

Kagami lighted a cigarette. Below him, the man finally gave up twitching. Crows settled on the body like nightmares given substance, but Kagami had already finished looking.

Right then he was thinking about Doctor Jackal, whose appearance seemed to stir him from his apathy. Doctor Jackal, who he had failed to kill. He blew smoke out the window, then shut his eyes and wondered what the hell was happening to him that could make him that weak.

-

"I truly appreciate the gesture, but I do not want to abuse your hospitality any more."

"Oh, come on! You're only staying for the night. There are muggers out there, and you still need to rest…"

Akabane tried to disentangle himself from Ren's bear hug, which had suddenly turned to a tight hold and only served to further aggravate his wounds. His cool, out-and-out-murderous-and-happy exterior was already showing signs of cracking, but the girl did not seem to notice this. Or she did notice and unwisely reacted to this by squeezing him harder, making Akabane wince.

"See! You're not strong enough to leave. You'll just die out there."

Akabane toyed with the idea of making her lose her grip on him by cutting her offending limbs off, but perhaps that would be a very bad way of repaying their earlier kindness. He sighed and stopped struggling. He was simply not in the mood to kill that day, or so he would tell himself later, when he looked back on that incident.

"I have to go," Akabane reasoned feebly, not wanting to use up his strength in an argument with the strange, most unladylike girl he had ever met.

"You…!"

"Ren," the girl's grandfather said.

Ren knew she had lost, and did not bother to hide her growing irritation. She looked like a pissed-off cat, and she sounded like one too.

"Just remember I told you so when you're bleeding to death in some alley," she sulked.

"That may not come to pass. I have ways to protect myself," Akabane said. Ren suddenly glared up at him.

"You didn't have any when I found you there!" she hissed fiercely.

"Ren, don't be such a child. Mr. Akabane may have other pressing matters in his hands. And I'm sure he can handle himself well."

It took a moment for Akabane to realize that the old man had said his name. When it finally did sink in, he looked over at Gen, surprise flickering in his eyes. The old man seemed to understand and nodded at him.

"MakubeX," Gen said dismissively, and Akabane looked away again.

"You understand why I must go."

"No, I don't. But I'm willing to play along with what you have in mind. You don't seem to be such an evil young man…"

It was hard to tell, what with his hat on the way, but Ren could have sworn she saw a genuine smile tug at the corner of Akabane's pale mouth. But the moment was gone, and then she wasn't so sure at all.

Akabane nodded once and left Ren standing by the door feeling very confused, not knowing what to make out of the stranger at all. And why did her grandfather let him bleed himself to death out there? With a sigh she flung her hands up and stomped loudly to her room.


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three:**

Ban ducked under the man's clumsy blow and kicked at his assailant's gun hand as he flipped himself backward. The man yelped but did not drop the gun, and Ban growled in disappointment. He pushed his glasses back in place and bent his knees a little, ready to jump out of the way if the man decided to open fire at him.

The man did. Ban sprinted away from the spray of bullets when the man waved his gun around and randomly fired like a maniac, peppering holes in the Monet prints on the wall. So unprofessional. Ban could not help but sneer. Give a loser a gun and what have you got? Same loser.

Ban curled his fingers to a fist and let the man have it right in the face. The poor guy reeled back with a broken nose and a couple less teeth, and then flopped down on the red-carpeted ground in a moaning heap. Another goon appeared behind him and pinned his arms to his side, but Ban easily broke the gorilla's hold.

A couple of blows later and three more of the 'goon squad' were asleep and drooling on the floor. Ban picked up a briefcase from underneath one of them and opened it cautiously. Smiling a little, he replaced the contents the way he found it and snapped the case shut.

It was their target, all right.

"Ginji!" The brunette shouted impatiently for his partner who was at the time caught in the middle of a mob. "Don't waste precious minutes here. Shock them and get it over with!"

Ginji used his fingerless-gloved hand to block one of the men's knife thrust. His eyes strayed for a moment to where Ban's voice had come from. The Jagan master already had one foot on the windowsill, and besides looked royally pissed.

"Uh…right. Sorry," Ginji muttered apologetically at the ski-masked men, summoning the electricity between his hands and letting it flow from his fingers to the surprised gang. The men fell down with a heavy thud, the smell of burnt fabric making Ginji's nose a little ticklish. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and followed Ban out the window. They had a client waiting.

-

"You know, don't you, Ginji?"

Ban brought a cigarette to his lips and lighted it. Ginji just stared at him innocently, eyes widening a little. They had given the suitcase back to the poor woman who had lost it. Now he just wanted to enjoy a decent meal with their pay, the easiest one million yen they had ever come across. And the woman seemed happy enough with the exchange.

Ban sighed at the blank look on his partner's face.

"The lady who hired us was doing it for revenge. That fat businessman we saw earlier in the mansion where the briefcase was kept, do you remember him?"

"Yes," Ginji answered uncertainly.

"He raped her and kept her as a mistress, then had her family killed off years before his organization ever became affiliated with a drug syndicate. She escaped from him, however, changed her name and soon became famous as an artist. Her paintings often depicted men as giants, girls as broken, glass-eyed dolls. It was her anger she was painting. But what she really wanted was revenge.

"That's why she needed us to get the briefcase. It contained everything she needed to connect his name with his illegal dealings. I wouldn't be surprised if the papers tomorrow would have something pretty interesting in it."

"I-I see…" Ginji murmured, feeling very sorry for their client. A lead ball seemed to drop to the pit of his stomach. He suddenly did not have the appetite to eat the remaining sushi on his plate. "What kind of monster could have done that to her?" he wondered aloud, not really expecting an answer.

"The man was…her own father, Ginji," Ban replied with uncharacteristic gentleness. Ginji nearly balked.

"And that's the kind of scum we're up against as retrievers. Some don't even have to wave bloody scalpels around to be called monsters. And maybe the monsters who still claim to be men are the worst."

Ginji nodded. Ban resigned himself to looking at the full moon outside the window of the Honky Tonk, surprised, and slightly disgusted, with himself and his little speech. Why the hell was he being so mysterious anyway? But then maybe his partner needed that. Ginji couldn't continue fighting something he didn't know about, and some knowledge would probably protect him in the long run. The world could be a pretty sordid place, and usually the innocent ones were those who had to suffer in the mud.

_-_

_I have thought of death before._

_Other people's death…_

…_and my own._

_Did I only dream my desire for it? It does not seem real anymore._

_No, everything is real. Death is as sensual as I thought it would be._

_Only I have decided…_

_It cannot end this way. _

-

Akabane pressed his hand on a crumbling wall for support, leaving a bloody smear where he had touched it. Steady, almost clock-like drips of blood flowed from his wounds. He knew moving forward was not reasonable, that he should just go back to the healer's house and announce he was going to stay, but he did not like to admit that he needed help from anyone. No, Akabane would rather die than to go back.

He leaned against a stone structure and winced when his arm brushed against his wound. There was so much blood on his bandages that it was hard to believe it had started out white. At least the blood was not so noticeable because he had managed to drape his black coat over himself. Of course, it was all in keeping with appearances. His cuts were hurting him like hell, but being the methodical professional that he was, he was able to keep it from distracting him.

Akabane allowed himself to slide down to a sitting position, his face flushing a little in humiliation and annoyance. He flexed his fingers and happily noted that they at least were not numb. He clenched them tightly in a sort of restless expectation and dark glee; he had only then remembered that he had not yet killed in a week. The next person he came across would likely never get to see the sun rise if he didn't turn out to be a very _interesting_ specimen indeed.

Akabane leaned back with a wicked smile. His cadaver-pale skin glistened faintly in the moonlight with a light of its own. In some countries, and perhaps it was not wrongly so, white was the color of Death. But white was also purity. And isn't death, even if it was in a morbid, extremely perverse way, a pure thing?

Perhaps Akabane wanted to preserve the innocence of humanity in the only manner he could understand. Perhaps he was reacting to his own latent pain. Perhaps those who were supposed to protect him had failed him in that, or nobody had wanted to protect him from the beginning.

Perhaps every time he killed, he was killing a part of himself that he hated.

Or it might also be that he simply took pleasure in that. Perhaps there really wasn't anything else to him besides being the cold-blooded killer people always took him for.

Whatever the reason that had led the entity called Doctor Jackal to surface in Akabane Kuroudo's soul, it no longer mattered. Akabane had tried to justify his actions before and failed. So he more than willingly took up his old philosophy, which meant he was about to have himself some fun. People may die as a matter of course, but that came as part of the package. He even regarded it as the most natural thing in the world…

…until Amano Ginji spoiled his violent notion of fun.

_Ginji-kun, must you ruin everything?_

Akabane snapped back to reality when he caught sight of languid movement and saw through the slit in his hat that there was a line of men moving towards him like flesh-eating zombies in some Western movie he had seen before.

He stood slowly up. When they were about ten feet from him he could see that they carried various items which could pass for weapons—knives, an evil-looking meat cleaver, and even something as pathetic as a screwdriver. Akabane could smell something predatory and almost bestial in them, and at that he couldn't hold back a smile. They would soon find that things could get really ugly when they deal with Doctor Jackal.

The men fanned out in a semi-circle and regarded him. He quirked one eyebrow and smiled a little wider. These men were hardly the type of hardboiled fighters who could provide decent sport, which meant it wouldn't be much fun killing them off. But he was still glad for the exercise. He just hoped they wouldn't disappoint him.

Akabane shoved the memory of his talk with the blonde GetBacker somewhere in the back of his mind where it could quit haunting him. Ginji's light seemed to mock everything he stood for. But what really disconcerted him was that he was not entirely sorry for it.

_What does this mean then?_ Akabane shook his head to clear out this half-formed thought too. Now was not the time at all to contemplate on any of it. If he was lucky, he could forget about it altogether after he was finished with the worthless vermin.

_-_

_Blood._

_Everything begins in blood…_

_Life. Memory. Dream. But especially Life._

_And so conceivably…_

… _it ends… _


	4. Chapter Four

A/N: Finally finished the fourth chapter, and after it sat idle for seven months in my computer…that's a long wait.

I went through the earlier chapters, and it hit me just how weak Akabane-san seemed throughout the whole story. (A reviewer pointed out something about it too.) I was trying to be…er…realistic (laughs uneasily). Should have known I really can't and shouldn't pull that one off, I suppose. Especially when the characters are built like sexy bishie supermen.

But, well, I just came up with an explanation on why it's like that. Ban-san said in ep. 49, I think, after he beat Akabane-san…I'm not spoiling the anime for anybody, right? Ah well. He said something about the Infinite Castle being both reality and virtual, how the battles are decided by the strength of wills and that was why he won against Raitei in the first place…or the subtitles in my copy are wrong. Hmm. Anyway, I figure, the way that works, if you're not feeling absolutely confident, your chances of winning get slimmer. Heheh, sorry. I don't follow my line of reasoning too.

Oh, just read Chapter Four.

**Chapter Four: **

In the eerie-green glow of computer screens, MakubeX looked like some little lost wraith-boy with hair only a touch paler than his bleached skin. He froze, his face betraying nothing while he stared at the feed from the surveillance cameras. But Sakura caught the change in his whole person and saw the mild surprise coupled with indecision written across his calm features as if with an unsteady, unsure hand. She shifted in her seat a little, studying him more closely.

"Is there something wrong, MakubeX?"

He didn't answer, and Sakura knew he was probably doing some quick thinking. His eyes remained glued to the screen where he could see the fuzzy image of Doctor Jackal. There were also several other men with him, but he doubted it was some happy get-together they were having. Things could get, or rather, _were _about to get complicated. The question was if he should help or not. Jackal could take it the wrong way, and if he thought they meant to interfere with his fun, then…well. Everything would just grow more complicated. On the other hand he had a city to protect…

"Maybe someone should check this out, just in case…" he faltered. "Maybe not…"

"What's wrong, MakubeX?"

Silence. And then a dismissive "Nothing." Sakura watched the boy for a moment longer before she resumed her own work.

--

Fear.

Sometimes Akabane could swear that fear is a tangible thing. He imagined reaching a hand out and plucking it from the air, moving it about his fingers over and over…

He was familiar with the dance of it. The sleek feel of scalpels sliding in place between his fingers. Bodies toppling down, the blood gushing up like water from a burst pipe. The fear that registered in his enemies' eyes as he began to kill them off with a few swipes.

The giant with the meat-cleaver stupidly thought he'd take an opening Akabane offered when he turned his back on him to demolish two more of the thugs. Shouting, he made as if to hurl his weapon at the black-clad man, but suddenly grunted and literally stopped dead on his tracks. The blood that issued forth from his cut-open back sprayed one of his companions behind him.

Gibbering, the frightened man looked down at the front of his shirt and saw a reverse 'J' on the coarse fabric. The still-warm blood worked its way lazily down his chest, and he screamed.

Two more of his would-be-dead assailants leapt at Akabane in a crazy attempt to relieve him of his blades. They clawed at his coat for a good full second before Akabane spared them the trouble of having to stay alive being the sneaky little bastards that they were. Ginji-kun's little castle was still infested with rats, it seemed. Akabane was more than willing to take part in the cleaning, if only to make up for the fact that he was not on a mission and so had nothing else to do.

Three others went down with a dull wet sound. Various parts of the ground were already slick with gore. It was turning into a massacre, Jackal having thrown himself in the spirit of the thing.

But as always happens in fights like these, in all the disturbance a member of the mob had managed to shakily drag himself away from the fight towards the general area of houses, when a nearby door suddenly opened and a little girl peered out, hugging her stuffed bunny with one chubby arm.

The man looked at the child and a sneer tugged his lips back. This was one ploy that always worked! He yanked the girl out the door and held her in front of him, pressing the muzzle of his gun the side of her head. The child sniffled audibly, giant tears welling up beneath her dinner plate-wide eyes.

The man yelled for Akabane to put his knives down.

--

The shout was hardly audible above the high-pitched screams of the dying, but Akabane slowly turned around at the sound, frowning a little as if the man had insulted him, which in a way he did. Those who had stayed alive by some providence and the sheer luck that Jackal had not yet healed saw this as their chance to get the hell out of there, and they took it. The sound of their scampering footsteps echoed loudly in the night.

'…_What is this?_' Akabane thought, '_Is he trying to appeal to my _humanity_? Does he think I would be so feeble as to care for weak people?'_

Akabane stared at the man practically laughing behind the little girl he held hostage.

'…_He must be wishing for a slow, painful death then…'_

"You offend yourself by this behavior," Akabane said instead. "And you disgust me by being so weak."

The remaining attacker pressed the gun harshly on the side of the girl's head, his smile a horrible grimace showing uneven yellow teeth. He was sweating profusely, like some animal driven mad.

"Disgust your greatness, don't I? But I have the advantage here! Move, and the little miss dies."

" 'Advantage'…" Akabane echoed with his usual smile intact. "You must have gotten the wrong expression about me. I do not care what happens to the child."

There was a long heartbeat of tense silence. The man's shuffling was turning into a little dancing jig. "Y-You don't want her to die, do you?"

Ginji wasn't exactly there to tell him about the value of a life, so why should he care? No, right then he wasn't seeing the retriever's accusing eyes. He wasn't even thinking about him. Just let the man kill the brat and then make his move. It would be so easy…

"She means nothing to me."

A killer will always be a killer, he thought. He was there to kill, not save anyone. Why should he think of helping her now?

A tiny, tiny voice: "P-Please…"

'_She is going to die anyway…'_

"HELP!"

The man tightened his grip on the gun, his finger twitching slightly to pull the trigger—

"Wait," Akabane said, surprising even himself. The man looked a little relieved at that, and more than a little smug. The girl was reduced to sniffling audibly and choking on her tears.

Akabane let his arms fall unthreateningly to his sides. He couldn't rightly tell if he was feeling nauseated because he didn't think he would allow himself to fall for such a low trick, or because the blood loss was getting to him. Either way he really didn't think much of playing the part of the hero. It couldn't have been more far from fun.

He needed a plan. His enemy had his back against a wall, so there was no chance that Akabane could move quickly and dispatch him from behind, and he wasn't entirely certain he could do that in his weakened condition anyway. He could dispose of the worthless thug with a well-aimed scalpel to the forehead, but a sudden movement from him could alert his enemy, and then it would be too late for the girl. If there was only enough of a distraction…a little more time…

But he didn't have time. With the adrenaline already leaving his system his wounds were once again making themselves felt; Akabane highly doubted his enemy would wait for him to recover, especially if he asked him to.

Meanwhile, the man, laughing, shivering in fear, couldn't help but gloat a little. "Yes, yes…can't let the cute little missy die, hehe. You miss your mommy, right? Don't worry, you'll see mommy as soon as the doctor lets go of his evil little toys…"

Akabane's eyes glinted dangerously, but he relinquished his grip on his beloved scalpels and they clattered to the ground, looking a lot like squinting, inhuman eyes in the uncertain light. He stared at them as if he didn't know what they were. At least he found out something: the man had no real knowledge of his abilities and the number of weapons he kept, or else he would have been asking him to make a pile of all one hundred and eight of them.

"…and now if he'd stand over there…"

A few steps towards the spot the man had indicated—several feet away from captive and captor. Akabane remained calm, knowing his enemy would sooner or later betray himself, give him a chance to make his move.

"You are proud for someone who hides behind a little girl," he remarked mildly.

"I'm a survivor," the man sneered, "Unlike you!" And he pointed the gun at Akabane.

Akabane had expected it. At the same moment the man brought the gun up and fired, Akabane unsheathed a single scalpel, fully intending to deflect the bullet with it and then go from there. But someone else had reacted sooner than he did.

It was all too quick; a sliver of something, catching light from some impossible source, hardened out of thin air and turned the bullet aside, and then somebody none-too-gently shoved him down from behind. A hoarse shriek. Something heavy that must surely be a body falling. The child's strangled sob. Akabane slowly pushed himself up, his left hand brushing against something on the ground: a mirror.

"You ruined my hat," Akabane said before he could think, looking numbly at the aforementioned object that had landed on the blood-swirled dirt floor when Kagami had oh so rudely shoved him.

"I never expected you to greet me with such a lame statement… And is that all the thanks I receive for saving you?" Kagami drawled.

"I am not some damsel in distress to be rescued," Akabane retorted, picking up his hat and dusting it off. He accidentally sat on the stuffed bunny and he pulled it out from underneath him, his face wiped of all emotion as he stared at the toy. Kagami wondered if he were angry or suppressing a laugh, disliking how he was not able to tell, surprised he should think it truly mattered.

"You claim to be an observer, but you have taken action, apparently without orders from your 'Gods.' I do not appreciate your help, Kagami-kun. I should kill you for spoiling my fun, but I think the child cannot handle any further trauma."

"A gift then." Kagami handed him a stoppered vial. Akabane's face registered a fleeting look of surprise. It was one of Himiko's perfumes.

"A whiff of that can erase the memory of what happened this day. But kids here are really more hardy, Akabane-san, and can take much more than a sight like that."

"Children should be allowed real childhoods," Akabane said in a whisper not meant to be heard. He lightly shrugged the mood away and grinned in his creepy fashion. "My, but you have been stealing from Lady Poison. She will not be very happy when she finds out."

Kagami only smiled back. Akabane stood up and approached the girl, who sat huddled by the door wiping a hand across her nose.

"Here. Your…rabbit." Akabane leaned down and gave her her bunny back. She accepted this gratefully and hugged it to her small frame.

"Th-Thank you. I was scared," she whimpered. While she was distracted Akabane passed the open tiny bottle underneath her nose. The little girl's eyelids drooped, and she sagged in a heap, snoring softly.

Akabane looked at the bottle a moment longer, deliberating, then finally sealed it with the cork again. He held it out for Kagami to take. "I think I want to remember this."

"…As you wish, Akabane-san."

The two regarded each other with unfriendly smirks.

"Why are you here? Do not quibble, Kagami-kun, or tell me a lie about how you happened to pass by. Did you pay those men to kill me? If you did, they would not have succeeded, you know."

Kagami didn't object. "I wanted to avoid another meeting with you. Maybe I was too optimistic."

"Yes."

"It seems we'll have to continue our fight after all. But you see, Doctor Jackal, you're the one who has to retreat today."

Akabane flicked his hand and scalpels flew at Kagami. Not surprisingly, Kagami's image burst into myriad shining fragments, settling on the ground like fine dust.

"Is this what your soul is like," Akabane addressed the air, "Cracked mirrors?"

The only answer he got was a mocking laugh.

"Know that I did not run from you. I think you are the one who is escaping from yourself. Go back to your sedentary city, back to the safety of your illusions then.

"_And let us fight some time, Kagami Kyouji-kun."_


	5. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

"Master, please…so hungry…"

"Just one pizza! We'll pay our tab after the next job!"

"I said no."

"Half a pizza?"

"No."

"Master…I'm dying…"

"Go die outside. The bar's just been wiped."

"How cruel."

The door of the Honky Tonk opened, setting off the bell that hung above it. Paul looked up from his newspaper just long enough to see who it was, then resumed his reading. "Coffee?" Paul asked nonchalantly.

"Yes, please," said Akabane with unnerving politeness, sitting down on the stool right next to Ginji. "It's nice to see you again, Ginji-kun. Though you and Midou-kun look decidedly underfed."

Ginji whipped around so quickly he fell from his seat, but was almost immediately up again waving tare arms in the air. "A-Akabane-san!" Ban, for his part, glared at the transporter and hmmphed loudly.

"You're a fine one to talk, Jackal. Look how thin you are! And with that stupid trench coat you wear it's amazing the wind doesn't blow you away like a kite!"

"Hmm, at least you still seem to be in high sprits, Midou-kun."

Paul slid a cup across the counter. Akabane sipped his drink and smiled at them. The smile, of course, was taken as anything other than reassuring.

"Wh-Why are you here, Akabane-san?" At the end of the sentence Ginji had somehow managed to choke on his own tongue. Ban whacked him on the head as he spluttered, then drop-kicked him for good measure.

"Let's go, Ginji! This place is too crowded with misers and murderers."

Ginji nodded vigorously, only to stop when Akabane laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Won't you like something before you go, Ginji-kun?"

Ban gave him with a fierce look. "We don't accept charity from _you_!" he hissed. Ginji wanted to agree, but he honestly couldn't hear himself think above the loud rumbling in his stomach. After a fairly long internal struggle, in which Ginji weighed free food against Akabanephobia to see which would win out, he gulped, shifted his weight to his other foot a little sheepishly.

"Um…I guess…a…a pizza would be nice…"

"Oy!"

"Forget your pride, Midou-kun. I am actually offering you something." Akabane rested one arm on the bar and studied him through the slit in his hat. "It is not charity. Perhaps I merely want to…extend to you a gift, for proving to be very interesting. You do not want to insult me by declining, do you?"

"Tch."

Paul raised his brows a fraction. "You sure you'll buy them a pizza?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then."

There was a long uncomfortable silence while Paul heated the pizza and the three sat waiting. Akabane didn't seem to mind the silence to stretch so long; Ban trembled with impotent rage, so Ginji decided it was left to him to make conversation. A butter knife seemed enough to cut the tension, and Ginji didn't want a fight, not before he could eat…

…and this was Akabane-san after all, who did very nasty things when he got bored…

"Um, Akabane-san?"

"Yes, Ginji-kun?"

"Are you on a job?"

"No."

"Are you…meeting a client?"

"No."

"Then…why are you here?" Seeing Akabane look at him, Ginji quickly continued: "Not that I'm saying you can't go in the Honky Tonk… Master makes really, really good coffee, and the pizza is delicious…it's just…you don't seem the type of person to… like stuff like that… that much…"

"Stop making a fool of yourself, Ginji! I'm sure you don't wanna know why Akabane's here. Probably planning something psychotic…"

"Midou-kun, always the barbed comments," Akabane observed. "I am here to have a cup of coffee. And see Ginji-kun, perhaps."

Ban turned away and frowned down at his fists while Ginji nearly dropped from his seat again. Akabane set his cup on its saucer and leaned closer to the frightened retriever, his face serious. But just as suddenly the look disappeared and he was his usual sunny and mad self again.

"I considered what you said earlier, Ginji-kun."

"Eh?"

"And perhaps I could make you a promise: I will not kill everyone who interferes with my work. Possibly only a few. Do not misunderstand: I will wait to have my fight with you; it is simply too troublesome to seek my fun elsewhere." Akabane tilted his head. "Is that good enough?"

Ginji gawped. "But, why?"

"Because…perhaps it will be more thrilling that way."

"Uh-huh." Ginji wasn't sure how to take this. He was still thinking when Akabane finished his drink and stood up, leaving a bill on the counter. Akabane had already started to make towards the door when Ginji caught the edge of his coat and looked up at him with shining liquid brown eyes.

"Anou, Akabane-san, will you pinky-swear it?"

Akabane blinked at him in surprise he wasn't able to conceal. Then he smiled.

"All right, Ginji-kun."

--

"Pizza's done!" Paul called.

"Yay!" Tare-Ginji bobbed up and down cheerfully, stealing a slice before Ban could reach out for one. "Itadakimasu!" (inu: It translates to something like "I will partake," but that sounds horribly stilted, so I retained the Japanese.)

"Hey, don't eat it all!" The two started shoveling food in their mouths faster than a hummingbird could ever have hoped to flap its wings.

"What's wrong with that guy?" Ban muttered, watching Akabane disappear in the traffic of late afternoon Shinjuku.

Ginji nodded mock-sagely. "I can't believe Akabane-san would treat us to some food."

"You must be rubbing off on him. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was getting rather mellow."

"I dunno, Ban-chan. I think… I think Akabane-san's being Akabane-san, and not just Jackal."

--

Red neon lights stretching back to layers and layers of darkness. Old buildings crowded together, misery loving company. Broken streetlights. Darkened doors. Endless narrow alleyways. A place for shady business deals, thefts, the keeping (or burying) of secrets.

Akabane walked leisurely through all this, hardly noticeable—a black figure cut out from equal blackness.

There was a high-pitched whine. Akabane flipped his phone open before it could ring a second time, listened to the fuzzy voice at the other end. It was a mediator he didn't usually work with calling about a medical transportation. A job with Mr. No-Brake.

"—_and we've been told the old man had already contacted the agent, HEVN, so there might be retrievers concerned. Surely nothing you can't take care of, Doctor Jackal._"

This was interesting. He could feel the burning excitement like electricity play a trill up his spine. His lips parted in a ghastly smile. "Hevn-san?" Akabane repeated vaguely, his voice still level.

"I accept the contract."

Fin.

scary inu (who really isn't scary): Didn't quite end the way I had originally intended. He and Kagami were supposed to elope :D Just kidding. It doesn't matter now.

I didn't want to finish it with a boringly peaceful 'and Akabane took up dentistry instead and they all lived happily ever after.' That's because I doubt Akabane-san would find contentment by being a nice person. Just doesn't go with him.

Yeah, and someone told me pinky swearing was different for Japanese people. Considered more intimate, or something, I'm not sure. Well, it seemed a Ginji-ish thing to do, so that's that.

Anyway, I hope you liked it.


End file.
